What is schema markup? A plain-English guide
Help Google and AI search understand your page
Search a recipe and you see star ratings and cooking times. Search a product and you see the price and whether it's in stock. Search a concert and you see dates and venues. Those extras come from schema markup: a small block of code that describes the page in a way machines can read.
What schema markup is
Schema markup (also called structured data) is a description of your page written in a shared vocabulary from schema.org. It tells search engines facts like "this is a product, it costs €89 and it's in stock" instead of leaving them to guess from the text.
Google recommends writing it as JSON-LD: a short script you paste into the page. It doesn't change how the page looks to visitors.
Here's what it looks like for a product:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Merino crew sweater",
"brand": { "@type": "Brand", "name": "Woolly" },
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"price": "89.00",
"priceCurrency": "EUR",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
},
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.7",
"reviewCount": "128"
}
}
</script>
Why it matters
- Rich results. Stars, prices, dates and other extras make your result bigger and easier to choose.
- Clarity. Google, Bing and AI search tools understand exactly what the page is about, who made it and how it connects to your brand.
- Your brand panel. Organization markup helps search engines connect your logo and social profiles to your site.
Schema markup isn't a ranking boost on its own, and it doesn't guarantee rich results. Google decides when to show them. But without it, most of those extras aren't possible.
Which schema types to use
| Type | Use it for | What Google can show |
|---|---|---|
| Article | Blog posts, news, guides | Headline, image and date in Top stories and Discover |
| Product | Product pages | Price, stock and star ratings |
| LocalBusiness | Shops, cafés, clinics, studios | Address, opening hours and phone |
| Event | Concerts, meetups, webinars | Dates, venue and tickets |
| Organization | Your homepage or about page | Logo and brand details |
| FAQPage | Pages with questions and answers | Dropdowns, now mostly for government and health sites |
A note on FAQ: since 2023, Google shows FAQ dropdowns mostly for well-known government and health sites. FAQ markup is still valid, and Bing and AI search tools still read it, so it's worth adding where the questions are really on the page. Google has also stopped showing How-to results, so that type isn't worth the effort for Google.
How to make schema markup without coding
- Open the schema markup generator and pick what the page is about: FAQ, article, product, local business, event or organization.
- Fill in the form. Required fields are marked, and the list on the right tells you what's missing.
- Watch the preview of how the result can look in Google, and the code update as you type.
- Click Copy code.
- Click Test in Google to open Google's Rich Results Test, and paste the code to check it.
Your answers are kept in your browser, so you can come back and edit them.
Where to paste it
Paste the code into the page's <head>, or anywhere in the page. Most website builders have a box for it:
- WordPress: a custom HTML block, or the code settings of your SEO plugin.
- Webflow and Framer: the page settings, under custom code.
- Lovable and other AI builders: ask it to add the JSON-LD to that page's head, and paste the code.
Add markup only for things that are visible on the page. Google ignores, and can penalise, markup that describes content people can't see.
Common schema markup mistakes
- Fake or copied reviews. Only mark up ratings from real reviews on your own site.
- Markup that doesn't match the page. Prices, dates and questions in the code should be the same as on the page.
- Relative links. Image and page addresses need the full
https://address. - Forgetting to update. When a price or event date changes, change the markup too.
Frequently asked questions
Is schema markup still worth it in 2026?
Yes. It's how Google shows prices, ratings, events and business details, and AI search tools use it to understand pages. Some types, like FAQ and How-to, show less in Google than they used to.
What is the difference between schema markup and JSON-LD?
Schema markup is the vocabulary that describes your page. JSON-LD is the format Google recommends for writing it.
Does schema markup help SEO?
Not as a direct ranking factor, but rich results stand out and usually get more clicks, and clear markup helps search engines understand your page.
How do I test schema markup?
Paste the page address or the code into Google's Rich Results Test. The Schema Markup Validator at validator.schema.org checks the code against schema.org.